Saturday, September 05, 2009

Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt has backed his side to win the Barclay's Premier League this season.

The Merseyside club have lost two of their opening three matches of the campaign but came from behind to beat Bolton last Saturday.

And Kuyt insists Liverpool are ready to put their indifferent start to the season behind them and mount a strong challenge.

In an interview for the official Liverpool website he said: "I still believe we have a great chance. It's early in the season and the main thing is to focus on our own game and look forward to the next game.

"As long as we start winning our own games from this stage I am sure we will be up there."

Kuyt has also backed new signings Glen Johnson and Alberto Aquilani will serve to strengthen the Reds' campaign.

He added: "I think we have two big signings. If you talk about Glen Johnson, last season he was one of the better players in the league.

"We have Aquilani as well. Okay we have to wait a couple of weeks before he starts to play games, but with these two signings we have a great team."

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has told his team-mates they must take risks if they want to win the Barclays Premier League this season.

The Reds' title bid has already suffered an early setback after they lost at Tottenham on the opening day followed by a defeat at home to Aston Villa - and only a 90th minute winner from Steven Gerrard save their skins at Bolton last weekend.

But Reina says unless Rafa Benitez' men start taking games by the scruff of the neck then they will fail to end their 20-year wait to win the League, reports The Daily Mirror.

Liverpool winger Albert Riera has told Spanish publication AS of a bust-up he had with manager Rafael Benitez and confirmed his anger at failing to start the first three games of the season for the Merseysiders.

"I didn't play the first game because I started training late after the Confederations Cup, like [Pepe] Reina and [Fernando] Torres," he said. "I was angry and had a flare-up at Benitez, but the day I don't get angry for being a substitute I will retire."

After sitting out the defeat to Tottenham, Riera had to be satisfied with a late substitute appearance in the 4-0 win over Stoke City and he was an unused sub in the 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa. However, he earned a starting place in the 3-2 win over Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok last weekend.

Despite not featuring as often as he would have liked so far this season, Riera holds the Liverpool boss in high regard.

"Benitez is a special coach who defends his own. I know he is with me, because he said so," he added.

The former Espanyol man also said that missing out on Spain's Euro 2008 victory was difficult for him.

"It was very hard but I will work to get to the World Cup to compensate for it," he said.

John Terry remains a big doubt because of his groin problem for Saturday’s friendly with Slovenia at Wembley, with Steven Gerrard poised to be captain.

Terry trained at Arsenal’s London Colney complex on Thursday, but Fabio Capello is unlikely to risk him ahead of Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Croatia, also at Wembley. A win in that could confirm England’s place at next summer’s finals in South Africa.

England confirmed that their entire squad trained “to some extent”, with Bolton defender Gary Cahill joining in after his call-up as cover for Terry.

Terry’s usual partner in the centre of England’s defence, Rio Ferdinand, has already been ruled out of the games with a thigh problem.

Tottenham’s Ledley King is also unavailable because of injury. Matthew Upson and Joleon Lescott are likely to face Slovenia if Terry misses out. It will be the first time they have started together.

Wes Brown’s prospects of challenging Glen Johnson at right-back looked brighter yesterday; he sat out Wednesday’s training because of a small muscle problem.

Leading England out will be a fillip for Gerrard, who had a troubled summer. He looked back to his best in Saturday’s 3-2 win at Bolton, scoring a late winner.

Liverpool's new stadium will not be built until the global recession is over and credit becomes available to finance the $800 million project.

The 60,000-seat replacement for Liverpool's historic but crumbling Anfield was due to have opened next year, but the economic downturn forced co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. to halt building work last August.

The American owners had said it would be a "short-term delay," but they are still not able to put a date on building work resuming.

"Construction on the stadium will begin when the current contraction in the banking industry ends and the global financial markets re-establish their equilibrium," Liverpool's new managing director Christian Purslow said.

Purslow hopes the stadium on the adjacent Stanley Park will be ready in time for 2018 to stage World Cup matches should England's bid to stage the showcase event prove successful.

"The centerpiece is to deliver a world-class football ground that everyone can be proud of, a new home for the club with a stadium of at least 60,000 seats, giving the best possible match experience," Purslow said.

Liverpool has been financially hamstrung by the economics of 45,000-capacity Anfield, where there are just 34 luxury suites and few amenities to generate extra funding to enhance the squad.

Manchester United's Old Trafford can welcome 76,000 fans and Arsenal moved from 38,000-seat Highbury into 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium in July 2006.

Liverpool vice-captain Jamie Carragher has said he is embarrassed and irritated by the delays in replacing the stadium.

Millions of pounds were written-off when existing plans to replace Anfield were ditched after Liverpool was bought by the Hicks and Gillett in 2007 so architects from Hicks' native Texas could design a more spectacular stadium.